I’m very pleased to have in my hands a copy of this month’s Juxtapoz which features an interview I made with its cover star – Escif. I’ve been lucky enough to have followed his development over the last five years so it was a pleasure to be asked by Escif to interview him about his work. I don’t know if it was my questions… but Escif gave some very thoughtful answers to life, the universe and everything – we’ll worth tracking a copy down while its in the stores…
As a long time graffiti artist has it been strange or helpful to step back and look at contemporary graffiti from an analytical / academic perspective? How much has it affected the work you’ve continued to paint on the street?
A characteristic of children is that they feel curiosity for anything. From a very innocent perspective they dare to question values that for us are unquestionable. This is marvelous! Children are capable of seeing things we would never see. It’s seems that when we grow-up we become strong and our minds close. We become dictators of our imagination and we grasp an identity that is very limited. To me this is very sad but it’s the way it is.
I understand art like a mix of experimentation, investigation and play. It’s a constant battle to remove the barriers that the system has put in our heads. A road to recover the child we once were but from the experience the years have given us. It has helped a lot in continuing the investigation, constantly asking myself why continue on one road and not the other.
Another reason to track down the magazine is for the interview with Thais Beltrame – a wonderful artist from Sao Paulo, who I featured in Street Sketchbook: Journeys and who’s work is represented in the UK by my wife Olivia.